Continuing his long-standing successful association with Channel 4, English stand-up comedian Peter Kay has revealed the details of a new ‘spoof’ comedy special that will air on the channel next year.

While his best-known work for the channel is arguably Peter Kay’s Britain’s Got the Pop Factor… and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice (a parody of reality TV talent contests (such as The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, and Strictly Come Dancing) that can today appear to be even more of a relevent send-up of the genre 4 years after its initial release in 2008), Kay will look to have at least a portion of those rave reviews for his upcoming hour-long spoof of Secret Millionaire.

Secret Millionaire is a Channel 4 format (started in 2006) that sees wealthy people going undercover for a week and living amongst more cash-strapped citizens, and at the end of the stay donating money to any local causes they see as worthy and able to change lives.

While any potential ‘reality’ concept has probably already been blown by the announcement, the parody Malachy’s Millions will see Kay star as ‘Malachy Mooney’, claimed to be a self-made millionaire who grew his his fortune with ‘coaching series’ “The Mooneys – Taking You Away From Everything You Know”. The spoof, which will be produced by Baby Cow (The Mighty Boosh, Gavin & Stacey) will see ‘Malachy’ live for a week in a ‘former mining town’ in northern England, though unlike comedy prank shows such as Facejacker, the people that he ‘meets’ in the documentary will likely be actors playing exaggerated versions of people seen on the original show.

Kay noted of the reasons behind his decision to make the show: “The script by Jo Enright and Lorna Burke made me laugh a lot and I also liked the opportunity of playing a character again.”

Baby Cow’s Gill Isles said of the developments: “It’s an amazing opportunity for Baby Cow to collaborate with Peter Kay on this genuinely funny script. Working with Channel 4 and a comedy actor of Peter’s calibre makes this a dream project for us”.

Channel 4 deputy head of comedy Nerys Evans summarised: “It’s fantastic to have Peter starring in this beautifully written comedy from Baby Cow. We can’t wait to have him back on our screens in this laugh out loud one off comedy special.”

While his other previous work with the channel such as Phoenix Nights and Max & Paddy’s Road to Nowhere have been widely-acclaimed successes, will Peter Kay’s second television parody bring millions to see Malachy? While Britain’s Got the Pop Factor was aired 4 years ago, it could not be much more relevant this week with the season 9 final of the ‘real version’ (The X Factor) coming this weekend. Below is the parody’s opening sequence, but how much of it will be broadcast as ‘serious’ content on ITV tomorrow night?

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[…] will also be notable as the first time that the stand-up, who is also currently working on Secret Millionaire spoof Malckay’s Millions for Channel 4, will have a show running on the lead BBC channel, having had most of his content aired with the […]

[…] on how the average person lives or what they think of the ‘higher-ups’, and while some reality shows have incorporated the idea into a long-running series, you rarely hear about such a thing being […]